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Aaron Swartz died 11 years ago today

181 points by CalRobert 3y ago

pcdoodle 3y ago
Those interested in a back story should see the documentary: "The internet's own boy". It's free on youtube.
- leotravis10 3y ago
  Actually, it's best available on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/TheInternetsOwnBoyTheStoryOfAaronSwartz https://archive.org/details/TheInternetsOwnBoyTheStoryOfAaro...
iammjm 3y ago
I found out about Aaron's work and his life story from an unusual place - I was doing research for my Master Thesis on contemporary literature and came across his piece on Infinite Jest: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ijend http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ijend
art_vandalay 3y ago
[flagged]
borg16 3y ago
this post of his remains relevant even today - http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
CalRobert 3y ago
There's a Behind the Bastards from last month on him as well. I am not endorsing it (I am only half an hour in) but https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-christmas-hero-episode-aaron-136561888/ https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236...
cubefox 3y ago
Related: Aaron Swartz and the Corrupt Practice of Plea Bargaining https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/01/17/aaron-swartz-and-the-corrupt-practice-of-plea-bargaining/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/01/17/aaron-swa...
- bdcravens 3y ago
  It's unfortunate that in most of the discussions about him, the focus tends to be on him, and little is said about the hundreds of thousands who rot in prison based on similar corrupt practices.
  - hughesjj 3y ago
    Or those who decided to end their lives because of the corrupt practices, yeah. It reminds me of operation pipe dreams and this vile person https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beth_Buchanan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beth_Buchanan
  - a_gnostic 3y ago
    > most of the discussions about him, the focus tends to be on him Duh. They are about him. Want to discuss others, then start discussions about others. This ain't rocket surgery; Be the change you want to see, but stay on topic.
4oo4 3y ago
I was actually just writing something yesterday using Python's html2text module and noticed that he was the original developer. RIP https://pypi.org/project/html2text/ https://pypi.org/project/html2text/
iwontberude 3y ago
I am upset he was taken from us, we will never know how Aaron was going to lead us or what the world could be like if he could iterate more on his ideas. What a phenomenal powerhouse. I used to get angry because I didn’t understand why he let them win when he was on the right side, but now I try to be inspired instead.
cubefox 3y ago
Note that his blog is still online. It's an interesting read. E.g. when he talks about depression (he had depression himself): > As George Scialabba put it, “acute depression does not feel like falling ill, it feels like being tortured … the pain is not localized; it runs along every nerve, an unconsuming fire. … Even though one knows better, one cannot believe that it will ever end, or that anyone else has ever felt anything like it.” > The economist Richard Layard, after advocating that the goal of public policy should be to maximize happiness, set out to learn what the greatest impediment to happiness was today. His conclusion: depression. Depression causes nearly half of all disability, it affects one in six, and explains more current unhappiness than poverty. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/verysick http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/verysick
- southernplaces7 3y ago
  >Depression causes nearly half of all disability, it affects one in six, and explains more current unhappiness than poverty. Really now? So it's somehow more of a problem for happiness than over 1 billion people still living in grinding poverty worldwide, or for health than the numerous endemic diseases, many treatable, that kill millions each year and the of millions of hideously dangerous jobs still done daily by hundreds of millions of people, possibly billions? Color me dubious of what seems like a very bubbled analysis of specific causes for problems in the world. Not to take a single thing away from Aaron Schwartz or the problems he was put through, but in material ,circumstantial terms, there are literally billions of people in the world who live lives far worse than his ever was in material terms.
  - thejazzman 3y ago
    It kind of is, yeah. Many people have many more hardships than I do, but it doesn't mean they feel anywhere near as unhappy as I do. I don't know where to begin trying to explain it so I'm not even gonna try. It's something you really shouldn't pretend to understand outloud. I've faced serious hardships and lived terrible events. I've also enjoyed periods of living in great locations with every material thing I desired. I felt MUCH happier during the society-accepted hardships than the latter.
ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago
This was peak hacker culture. Now we get kids grinding leetcode bending over backwards for FAANG and VCs.
- nadermx 3y ago
  Not all
- whatamidoingyo 3y ago
  Seriously, lol. I always tell new people who are struggling to find jobs to just go build something. You have the skills to build whatever you want. If you don't, figure it out. Either income will come from your endeavors, or a super impressive project will come out that you can show those employers.
  - AlecSchueler 3y ago
    Do you speak from experience?
    - whatamidoingyo 3y ago
      Yes.
prteja11 3y ago
Remembering Aaron Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013), an internet freedom activist who believed knowledge should be free and not behind a pay wall. He helped build RSS spec, Creative Commons and reddit to name a few. He hanged himself after being cornered by a few overzealous federal prosecutors while MIT stood passively (when it could have stood up for its ideals). Tim Berners Lee said it best, "Aaron dead. World wanderers, we have lost a wise elder. Hackers for right, we are one down. Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep." http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/ http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/
apapapa 3y ago
[flagged]
6R1M0R4CL3 3y ago
i will never forgive mit for what they did.
- a_gnostic 3y ago
  I will never forgive the medical publishing service for what they did.

181 points by CalRobert 3y ago

pcdoodle 3y ago

Those interested in a back story should see the documentary: "The internet's own boy". It's free on youtube.

leotravis10 3y ago
Actually, it's best available on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/TheInternetsOwnBoyTheStoryOfAaronSwartz https://archive.org/details/TheInternetsOwnBoyTheStoryOfAaro...

iammjm 3y ago

I found out about Aaron's work and his life story from an unusual place - I was doing research for my Master Thesis on contemporary literature and came across his piece on Infinite Jest: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ijend http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/ijend

art_vandalay 3y ago

[flagged]

borg16 3y ago

this post of his remains relevant even today - http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/hatethenews

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

CalRobert 3y ago

There's a Behind the Bastards from last month on him as well. I am not endorsing it (I am only half an hour in) but https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-christmas-hero-episode-aaron-136561888/ https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236...

cubefox 3y ago

Related: Aaron Swartz and the Corrupt Practice of Plea Bargaining https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/01/17/aaron-swartz-and-the-corrupt-practice-of-plea-bargaining/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/timothylee/2013/01/17/aaron-swa...

bdcravens 3y ago
It's unfortunate that in most of the discussions about him, the focus tends to be on him, and little is said about the hundreds of thousands who rot in prison based on similar corrupt practices.
- hughesjj 3y ago
  Or those who decided to end their lives because of the corrupt practices, yeah. It reminds me of operation pipe dreams and this vile person https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beth_Buchanan https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beth_Buchanan
- a_gnostic 3y ago
  > most of the discussions about him, the focus tends to be on him Duh. They are about him. Want to discuss others, then start discussions about others. This ain't rocket surgery; Be the change you want to see, but stay on topic.

4oo4 3y ago

I was actually just writing something yesterday using Python's html2text module and noticed that he was the original developer. RIP https://pypi.org/project/html2text/ https://pypi.org/project/html2text/

iwontberude 3y ago

I am upset he was taken from us, we will never know how Aaron was going to lead us or what the world could be like if he could iterate more on his ideas. What a phenomenal powerhouse. I used to get angry because I didn’t understand why he let them win when he was on the right side, but now I try to be inspired instead.

cubefox 3y ago

Note that his blog is still online. It's an interesting read. E.g. when he talks about depression (he had depression himself): > As George Scialabba put it, “acute depression does not feel like falling ill, it feels like being tortured … the pain is not localized; it runs along every nerve, an unconsuming fire. … Even though one knows better, one cannot believe that it will ever end, or that anyone else has ever felt anything like it.” > The economist Richard Layard, after advocating that the goal of public policy should be to maximize happiness, set out to learn what the greatest impediment to happiness was today. His conclusion: depression. Depression causes nearly half of all disability, it affects one in six, and explains more current unhappiness than poverty. http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/verysick http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/verysick

southernplaces7 3y ago
>Depression causes nearly half of all disability, it affects one in six, and explains more current unhappiness than poverty. Really now? So it's somehow more of a problem for happiness than over 1 billion people still living in grinding poverty worldwide, or for health than the numerous endemic diseases, many treatable, that kill millions each year and the of millions of hideously dangerous jobs still done daily by hundreds of millions of people, possibly billions? Color me dubious of what seems like a very bubbled analysis of specific causes for problems in the world. Not to take a single thing away from Aaron Schwartz or the problems he was put through, but in material ,circumstantial terms, there are literally billions of people in the world who live lives far worse than his ever was in material terms.
- thejazzman 3y ago
  It kind of is, yeah. Many people have many more hardships than I do, but it doesn't mean they feel anywhere near as unhappy as I do. I don't know where to begin trying to explain it so I'm not even gonna try. It's something you really shouldn't pretend to understand outloud. I've faced serious hardships and lived terrible events. I've also enjoyed periods of living in great locations with every material thing I desired. I felt MUCH happier during the society-accepted hardships than the latter.

ilrwbwrkhv 3y ago

This was peak hacker culture. Now we get kids grinding leetcode bending over backwards for FAANG and VCs.

nadermx 3y ago
Not all
whatamidoingyo 3y ago
Seriously, lol. I always tell new people who are struggling to find jobs to just go build something. You have the skills to build whatever you want. If you don't, figure it out. Either income will come from your endeavors, or a super impressive project will come out that you can show those employers.
- AlecSchueler 3y ago
  Do you speak from experience?
  - whatamidoingyo 3y ago
    Yes.

prteja11 3y ago

Remembering Aaron Swartz (November 8, 1986 – January 11, 2013), an internet freedom activist who believed knowledge should be free and not behind a pay wall. He helped build RSS spec, Creative Commons and reddit to name a few. He hanged himself after being cornered by a few overzealous federal prosecutors while MIT stood passively (when it could have stood up for its ideals). Tim Berners Lee said it best, "Aaron dead. World wanderers, we have lost a wise elder. Hackers for right, we are one down. Parents all, we have lost a child. Let us weep." http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/ http://www.rememberaaronsw.com/memories/

apapapa 3y ago

[flagged]

6R1M0R4CL3 3y ago

i will never forgive mit for what they did.

a_gnostic 3y ago
I will never forgive the medical publishing service for what they did.